NGHIÊN cứu về NGÔN NGỮ sử DỤNG TRONG THƯ tín KINH DOANH TRÊN PHƯƠNG DIỆN HÀNH VI lời nói và các CHIẾN lược LỊCH sự

English business letter has been an important and indispensable tool for us to exchange information in global economy. Therefore, writing the efficient letters will determine the success of business communication. In order to find out the effective ways to write business letters, the study intended to analyze inquiry letters and collection letters in terms of speech acts and politeness strategies. The study began with the literature review on speech acts and politeness strategies. Then both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied in data analysis to answer two research questions. The findings of the study presented speech acts used in two kinds of letters and indicated the most dominant speech act. Besides, tone and appeal which were two aspects of politeness strategies were investigated carefully. From that, the suggestions for writing effective letters were drawn out. This study hopefully makes a contribution an effective approach to the business correspondence study.

English business letter has been an important and indispensable tool for us toexchange information in global economy Therefore, writing the efficient letters willdetermine the success of business communication

In order to find out the effective ways to write business letters, the studyintended to analyze inquiry letters and collection letters in terms of speech acts andpoliteness strategies

The study began with the literature review on speech acts and politenessstrategies Then both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied in dataanalysis to answer two research questions The findings of the study presented speechacts used in two kinds of letters and indicated the most dominant speech act Besides,tone and appeal which were two aspects of politeness strategies were investigatedcarefully From that, the suggestions for writing effective letters were drawn out

This study hopefully makes a contribution an effective approach to the businesscorrespondence study

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACCEPTANCE i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENT iv

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES vii

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Objectives of the study 2

3 Research questions 2 4 Scope of the study 2

5 Significance of the study 3

6 Method of the study 3

7 Organization of the study 3 PART II: DEVELOPMENT 5 CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 5 1 Speech acts 5

1.1 Definition of speech acts 5

1.2 Classification of speech acts 6

1.3 Direct and indirect speech acts 8

2 Politeness 9

2.1 Definition of politeness 9

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2.2 Face 102.3 Politeness strategies 11

1 An analysis of inquiry letters and collection letters in terms of Speech

1.1 Realization of Speech acts used in inquiry letters 23 1.1.1 Directives in inquiry letters 23

1.2 Overview of the use of Speech acts in inquiry letters 271.3 Realization of Speech acts used in collection letters 30

1.3.1 Representatives in collection letters 30

1.4 Overview of the use of Speech acts in collection letters 39

2 An analysis of inquiry letters and collection letters in terms of

APPENDIXES

APPENDIXE 1: Inquiry letters

APPENDIXE 2: Collection letters

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

List of figures

Figure 1: Flowchart of politeness strategies ordered against estimated threat to face(Brown and Levinson, 1987:60)

Figure 2: Percentages of some Speech Acts used in the INQUIRY LETTERS

Figure 3: Percentages of some Speech acts in the COLLECTION LETTERS

List of tables

Table 1: The five general functions of speech acts (following Searle 1979)

Table 2: Basic types of direct speech acts

Table 3: Leech’s maxims

Table 4: Data of forty INQUIRY LETTERS

Table 5: Percentages of some Speech acts in the INQUIRY LETTERS

Table 6: Data of forty COLLECTION LETTERS

Table 7: Percentages of some Speech acts in the COLLECTION LETTERS

PART I: INTRODUCTION

This initial chapter states the rationale for the study, together with objectives, scope, significance and method of the study Also, an overview of the rest of the paper

is provided to orientate the readers throughout the study.

1 Rationale of the study

Vietnam is on the path of global integration in terms of science, education,tourism, trade and other fields Obviously, English has been becoming the effectiveand indispensable means of communication among different countries in almost thesefields Besides, with the development of international trade, business transactions areconducted across borders, business partners communicate more often than ever.Business communication can be taken in the form of face-to-face meetings or ofwritten communication known as business correspondence English business letter hasbeen widely recognized as a typical written representative of communication and animportant tool in business dealings Business correspondence brings quick transactionsfor people in different distance places and for people who are unable to frequentlytravel a long way for business discussions

Politeness principle and speech acts are vital in writing businesscorrespondence because they determine the effectiveness and success of thecommunication purpose of a business letter In Vietnam, there are a few studies in thearea of business letters analysis Therefore, this investigation may be considered as acontribution to this field Moreover, Vietnamese people need to have necessaryknowledge of writing business correspondence to maintain and develop theinternational trade relationship between Vietnam and other countries in the world

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In the hope of finding how to write business letters effectively, I have chosen the

subject for my thesis: A study of language used in business correspondence in terms

of speech acts and politeness strategies

2 Objectives of the study

Firstly, the research is expected to present, describe and analyze business letters

in terms of speech acts and politeness strategies

Secondly, the researcher will give out the most dominant types of speech actsand politeness strategies which are used

Thirdly, from findings and discussion, the study makes some suggestion forbetter writing business correspondence

4 Scope of the study

Due to time limit and within the limitation of a graduation thesis, the researchcannot deal with all aspects of business correspondence Therefore, it onlyconcentrates on speech acts and politeness strategies in business correspondence

The object of this study focuses on two kinds of business correspondence, eachtype has 40 letters:

 Inquiry letter

 Collection letter

5 Significance of the study

With theoretical background and data analyses based on language aspects, theresearch is designed with a view to partly contribute to the better understanding ofbusiness letters in terms of speech acts and politeness strategies Besides, theresearcher expects to provide some suggestions for writing business letters for peoplewhose jobs or studies related to international business correspondence Also, theresearcher hopes that this thesis would be a useful source of reference for furtherstudies on related topics

6 Method of the study

This thesis uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze two kinds

of business correspondence

The main data used in this thesis are accumulated from the book “A Handbook

of Commercial Correspondence” by Oxford University Press in 1993, authenticEnglish letters from banks and from trading companies

7 Organization of the study

The study is divided into three parts:

method and organization of the study

Part II (Development) includes 3 chapters:

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Chapter I (Literature review) provides the theoretical framework of the study,

including discussions of the theory of speech acts, politeness as well as the relatedstudies

Chapter II (Methodology) describes the way the study is conducted, including

the research setting, participants, instruments of data collection as well as theprocedure employed to carry out data analysis

Chapter III (Findings and discussion) presents and discusses the results that the

researcher found out from the collected data

Part III (Conclusion) summarizes the key points, states the limitations and

suggests further studies

PART II: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER I LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides the literature review including the notions of speech acts theory, theory of politeness strategies, business letters in English and its properties, the definition of inquiry letter and collection letter and it explains how the researcher fulfills some related studies.

1 Speech acts

1.1 Definition of speech acts

Speech acts theory has been studied and differently defined by differenttheorists such as: Austin (1962), Grice (1975), Hymes (1964), Searle (1969), Levision(1983), Brown & Yule (1983) and others

In Hymes’s definition (1964, p 13): “Speech acts are defined as the acts weperform when we speak” such as giving reports, giving advice, agreeing, complaining,apologizing… A speaker in saying, for example: “I’ll help you whenever you needme”, in fact, is making a promise or an act of promising One may talk to her friend:

“Why don’t you tell him the truth?” This question, in certain contexts, may beunderstood as a suggestion and the speaker is performing the act of giving advice

According to Searle (1969, p.24), language is a part of a theory of action, andspeech acts are those verbal acts such as promising, threatening, requesting that oneperforms in speaking

Austin (1962, p 52) originally uses the term “Speech acts” to refer to anutterance and the “total situation in which the utterance is used” In addition, Austin

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(1962, p 108) distinguishes three different kinds of actions which are performed when

a language user produces an utterance:

(i) Locutionary acts:

Locutionary act is simply the act that we perform in saying something orproducing a meaningful linguistic expression For example, if we make a simplesentence like “I want to have a gift for my birthday”, we are likely to produce alocutionary act

(ii) Illocutionary acts:

Illocutionary acts are performed via the communicative force of an utterance.Austin gives out some examples of illocutionary acts like: informing, ordering,warning, and undertaking, which have a certain (conventional) force The illocutionaryforce is the effect the speaker wants the utterance to have on the listener For instance,one may say “I think you spend much time playing games”, this is an act ofcomplaining

(iii) Perlocutionary acts:

Perlocutionary acts are the effects of the illocutionary acts Depending on thecircumstances, the Speaker will create an utter on the assumption that the Hearer willrecognize the effect the Speaker intended For example, when saying “It’s cold inhere”, the Speaker wants the Hearer to close the door

1.2 Classification of speech acts

In Searle’s view, illocutionary acts are the central to speech act theory Hedivided illocutionary acts into five categories: Declaratives, Representatives,Expressives, Directives and Commisives

(i) Declaratives are those kinds of speech acts that change the world via their

utterance with some typical verbs are: declare, pronounce, resign…

Example 1:

- Priest: I now pronounce you husband and wife

- Referee: you’re out!

(ii) Representatives are those kinds of speech acts that state what the speaker

believes to be the case or not They state facts, assertions, conclusion, and descriptions

Example 2:

- The earth is flat

- It was a warm sunny day

(iii) Expressives are those kinds of speech acts that state what the speaker feels.

They express psychological states and can be statement of pleasures, pain, likes,dislikes, joy, or sorrow Some typical verbs used are: excuse, congratulate, and wish…

Example 3:

- I’m really sorry!

- Congratulation!

(iv) Directives are those kinds of speech acts that speakers use to get someone

else to do something They express what the speaker wants They are commands,orders, requests, suggestions conveyed by verbs as order, command, request, allow…

Example 4:

- Give me a cup of coffee

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- Could you lend me a pen, please?

(v) Commisives are those kinds of speech acts that speakers use to commit

themselves to some future actions They express what the speaker intends They arepromises, threats, refusals, pledges demonstrated by verbs: pledge, swear, promise,offer…

Example 5:

- I’ll be back

- We will not do that

Similarly, G Yule (1996, p 55) summarizes these five fundamental functions of speech acts in a table:

Speech act type Direction of fit S = Speaker;

X = SituationDeclarations words change the world S causes X

Representatives make words fit the world S believes X

Expressives make words fit the world S feels X

Directives make the world fit words S wants X

Commissives make the world fit words S intends X

Table 1: The five general functions of speech acts

1.3 Direct and indirect speech acts

In speech acts theory, there are two types of speech acts on the basis ofstructure: direct and indirect They are distinguished based on the relationship betweenthe structural forms and the communicative functions

Interrogative Question

George Yule (1996, p 54) points out that: “We have a direct speech actwhenever there is a direct relationship between a structure and a function” Forexample, a speaker says: “close the window, please”, it means that the speaker directlyrequests the hearer to close the window In contrast, “whenever there is an indirectrelationship between a structure and a function, we have an indirect speech act” Forinstance, in the same situation with the previous example, the request can be made in amore indirect manner to achieve the same result The speaker may say: “it’s coldoutside” instead of “close the window, please”

Concerning why indirectness is used, Yule (1996, p 56) explains: “indirectspeech acts are generally associated with greater politeness in English than directspeech acts”

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Table 2: Basic types of direct speech acts - G Yule (1996, p 54)

In the study in politeness theory, Leech (1980 and 1983) and Brown & Lesion(1987) focus politeness as a pragmatic phenomenon Leech defines politeness as a type

of behavior that allows the participants to engage in a social interaction in anatmosphere of relative harmony He claims that politeness principle is necessary torescue the cooperative principle (be true, be brief, be relevant, be clear), which isbased on Grice’s maxims (1975) Besides, John, Gumperz and several other authors(in Brown and Lesion, 1987, p 13) consider politeness as “basic to the production ofsocial order, and a precondition of human cooperation”

Yule (1996, p 60) defines politeness in the light of pragmatics: politeness isseen as “the idea of polite social behavior or etiquette within a culture” Moreconcretely, politeness “is a number of different general principles for being polite insocial interaction within a particular culture

2.2 Face

“Face” closely relates to the concept of politeness The understanding of notion

of “face” is significant to understand politeness Like “politeness”, “face” is alsodefined differently, but the content is similar According to Richards (1992, p 135),

“in communication between two or more persons, the positive image or impression ofoneself that one shows or intends to show to the other participants is called Face”

Yule (1996, p 60) defines “Face” as the public self-image of a person Theconcept refers to that emotional and social sense of self that everyone has and expectseveryone else to recognize and the author adds that “politeness, in an interaction, can

be then defined as the means employed to show awareness of another person’s face”

If a person says something that represents a threat to another individual’s expectationsregarding self-image, it is considered as a face threatening face (FTA) Alternatively,given the possibility that some actions might be interpreted as a threat to another’s

face, the speaker can say something to lessen the possible threat This is called a facesaving act (FSA).

In terms of participant’s want, Brown and Levinson (1987, p 62) distinguishtwo types of face

 Negative face is “the want of every competent adult member thathis actions be unimpeded by others” It means that negative face is the basicclaim to territories, personal preserves, right to non-distraction They are freefrom action and imposition

 Positive face is “the want of every member that his wants bedesirable to at least some others” In other words, positive face is the positiveconsistent self-image or personality claimed by interactants

2.3 Politeness strategies

In order to avoid conflict and respect people’s freedom of thought, and maintainthe harmonious relations with others, politeness strategies can be implemented Forexample, people can soften a request by avoiding bare imperatives to maintain apositive or negative face in a conversational situation Therefore, it is suggested thatbehaving appropriately, that is assuming to match the speakers and addressees’ need orwish, can preserve either positive or negative self-image of the speaker or the hearer

2.3.1 Lakoff and Leech’s politeness theory

R Lakoff (1973, p 32) stated that politeness is “a system of interpersonalrelations designed to facilitate interaction by minimizing the potential for conflict andconfrontation inherent in all human interchange” R Lakoff points out three differentrules a speaker might follow in choosing to be polite:

required)

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This can be understood as meaning: remain aloof, do not intrude into otherpeople’s business It is used to avoid or ask for permission or apologize for makingaddressee (A) do anything which A does not want to do.

It is used to let A (addressee) make his own decisions – leave his options openfor him

intimate politeness is required)

It is often used conventionally when there is no real friendship left This is therule that encourages feelings of camaraderie between Speaker and Addressee Themain aim is to make the Addressee feel good and produce a sense of equality betweenSpeaker and Addressee

On the other hand, Leech (1983, p 132) introduces a number of maxims based

on the cost and benefit to the Hearer and the amount of optimality given to the Hearer.The main maxims are:

Tact maxim Minimize the cost to another

Maximize the benefit to anotherGenerosity maxim Minimize benefit to ourselves

Maximize the cost to ourselvesApprobation maxim Minimize dispraise of other

Maximize praise of other Modesty maxim Minimize praise of ourselves

Maximize dispraise of ourselvesAgreement maxim

Minimize the expression of disagreement between self and other

Maximize the expression of agreement between self and otherSympathy maxim Minimize antipathy between self and other

Maximize sympathy between self and other

2.3.2 Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory

According to Brown and Levinson (1987), politeness strategy is concerned withthe actions people take to maintain their face and that of the other people they areinteracting with Besides, politeness is realized linguistically by means of variousstrategies (positive and negative) across cultures

 Positive politeness involves a face-saving act which is concerned

with the person’s positive face Positive politeness consists of acts which aredesigned to perverse or restore the Hearer’s positive face by stressing theSpeaker’s sympathy with a social closeness to the Hearer The use of positivepoliteness forms, emphasizing closeness between speaker and hearer, can beseen as a solidarity strategy One linguistic way of doing this would be toinclude both Speaker and Hearer in the activity

Eg: “Let’s go to school together”

 Negative politeness involves a face-saving act which is concerned

with the person’s negative face Negative politeness consists of acts which aredesigned to perverse or restore the Hearer’s negative face by expressing theSpeaker’s reluctance to impose his or her want on the Hearer and/or byacknowledging the social distance between the Speaker and the Hearer The use

of negative politeness forms, emphasizing the hearer’s right to freedom, can beseen as a deference strategy One way of doing this would be to use hedge.Eg: “I know you’re busy, but can you help me do my homework?”

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Table 3: Leech’s maxims

From the face-saving view, Brown and Levinson propose five politenessstrategies to minimize risk of losing face corresponding to the degree of face-threat.The greater the risk of face loss is, the higher-numbered strategy will be employed

Eg: - A says to C: “You can’t smoke here.”

Eg: - “You know they do have a section for smokers over there Let’s go find it

so you can have a cigarette.”

Eg: - Would you mind our asking you not to smoke in the nonsmokingsection?”

Eg: - A says to B so that C can overhear: “I wonder if there is a smokingsection.”

Eg: C is smoking and A&B move away (No linguistic action)

They specify that speakers should respect each other’s expectation regardingself-image, take account of their feelings, and avoid Face Threatening Acts (FTAs –acts which threaten the face wants of the speaker, the hearer, or both of them) Theyalso propose 4 kinds of FTAs:

1 Acts threatening to the Hearer’s negative face

E.g: ordering, suggesting, advising, reminding, threatening, warning, offering,promising, complimenting.

2 Acts threatening to the Hearer’s positive face

E.g: disapproving, complaining, criticizing, disagreeing, accusing and raisingtaboo topics

3 Acts threatening to the Speaker’s negative face

E.g: accepting an offer, accepting thanks, excusing, promising unwillingly

4 Acts threatening to the Speaker’s positive face

E.g: apologizing, accepting compliments, and confessing

Brown and Levinson summarized a taxonomy of possible strategies forperforming FTAs in the following chart:

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Without redressiveaction, baldly lesser less

3 Business letters in English and its properties

3.1 Business letters as special texts

Business letters are often said to be the “ambassador” of an enterprise because it

is, first of all, the principle means used by the enterprise to keep in touch with itscustomers; and customers form their impression of the enterprise from the tone and thequality of the letter it sends out (Nguyen Trong Dan, 1997, p 3)

Any text always consists of structure and business letters are special texts.Therefore structures are cohered to build up texts

Like other texts, business letters have a clearly communicative purpose,therefore, these types of texts will have some linguistic features denoted the insiderelationships of the texts and their own styles Business letters with the seven “C’s” ofstyle will help you become more effective The seven “C’s” are Convention, Clear,Concise, Complete, Concrete, Constructive and Correct

The four areas you must take into consideration for each business letters arelisted rhetorically as: Subject – Audience – Purpose – Style/Organization Many lettersare sent with a specific subject and audience in mind, but are not clear in their purpose.You must know why you are sending the letter and if the reader is to inform, if it is to

Don’t do FTA

Figure 1: Flowchart of politeness strategies ordered against estimated threat to face

(Brown and Levinson, 1987, p 60)

request information, and if it is to get the recipient to act on a request All of these arevery different purposes You have probably received a letter that, after reading it, leftyou confused because you did not know exactly what it said as the purpose is notclear.

3.2 The parts of a business letter

Business letters have many parts, some are compulsory and some are optional.They may include:

1 Letterhead or Heading : The heading portion of a business letterincludes the writer's address

2 Dateline : the date on which the letter is being prepared is typed afew lines below the letterhead

3 Inside address : The inside address shows the name and address ofthe recipient of the letter

4 Attention line : this is not always required It should be used whenthe letter is addressed to a company or organization as a whole, but you want it

to be handled by a specific individual at the company or within theorganization It should be underlined or typed in capitals

5 Salutation : this appears below the name and the address of therecipient (to whom the letter is written)

- Dear Sir opens a mail to a man whose name the sender does not know.

married, whose name the sender does not know

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- Dear Sir or Madam is used to address a person of whom the

sender knows neither the name nor the sex

- When the sender knows the name of the receiver, the salutation

takes the form of Dear followed by a courtesy title and the receiver’s surname Initials or first names are not generally used in salutations: Dear Mr Smith, not

Dear Mr J Smith

The comma after the salutation is optional (Dear Sir, or Dear Sir)

6 The body of the letter : this part contains message or informationwhich the writer wants to communicate The body of the letter should bedivided into different paragraphs

7 The complimentary close : this should always agree with

salutation and it must always be followed by a comma

- If the letter begins with Dear Sir/Sirs/Madam/Sir or Madam, it will close with Yours faithfully.

- If the letter begins with Dear Mr James/Mrs Robinson/Ms

Jasmin, it will close with Yours Sincerely.

- The comma after the complimentary close is optional (Yours faithfully, or Yours faithfully.)

8 Signatures : the complimentary close will be followed by thesignature of the writer

4 Inquiry letter

“A letter of inquiry is usually written to ask for specific information or saleliterature about products and services, price lists, catalogs, terms of payment,quotations, discount schedules, dealer prices, the name of a dealer or a local supplier,

or free samples or materials Letters of inquiry are also referred to as request letters.”(Alan J Bond, 2005, p 9) The term ‘Inquiry’ is same as ‘Enquiry’ The former ismore commonly used in U.S and the latter one is more common in U.K.

5 Collection letter

Collection letters are normally sent out to customers to remind them ofpayments due for goods or services delivered or rendered by a company Collectionletters are generally written in a series with increasing degrees of urgency andinsistence The first collection letter is mildest and most understanding, with thefollowing letters getting gradually more insistent The final letter in this series, whenall efforts have failed, gives customers one last brief period to respond before takingaction to turn the matter over to a lawyer or collection agency or court of law Aneffective letter of collection achieves its purpose without destroying the customers'goodwill

6 Related studies

In Vietnam, there are not many researchers attempting to analyze businesscorrespondence in terms of speech acts and politeness strategies They focused mainly

on grammatical features and discourse analysis However, the writer was still inspired

by Ngô Tùng Anh’s study “Analysis of the Language Often Used in Banking BusinessLetters in Terms of Structure and Speech Acts” (1997) In his thesis for the degree ofMaster of Art, Ngo Tung Anh seemed to take the first step in finding out speech actsuse in business letter included inquiry letter and collection letter Nevertheless, he gaveoverview of speech acts in each type of sentence presented in a table

For those limitations of this study, the researcher came up with a decision toconduct this thesis so as to bring more deep and detailed analysis on inquiry letter andcollection letter in terms of speech acts and politeness strategies

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CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes the way the research is conducted, including the selection of subjects, instruments of data collection, procedures of data collection as well as the methods and procedures employed to carry out data analysis to answer the research questions:

1 Selection of subjects

Business correspondence consists of many different kinds However, two types

of business letters which are appropriate to analyze in terms of speech acts andpoliteness strategies are chosen

Subjects for this study are:

 Inquiry letters

 Collection letters The main data used in this thesis are collected from the book “A Handbook ofCommercial Correspondence” by Oxford University Press in 1993, authentic Englishletters from banks and from trading companies However, due to the confidentiality ofauthentic business letters, the number of data in these sources is limited

2 Research instruments

The document is the predominant instrument used to collect data for theresearch The document includes two types of business letters (inquiry letter and

collection letter) The researcher can analyze speech acts and politeness strategiesbased on the content of letters.

3 Data collection procedures

The procedure of collecting data could be divided into three main phases

Phrase 1: The books and documents on business letters were searched and readcarefully so as to gain basic knowledge in this field

Phrase 2: The types of business correspondence which were suitable for thethesis would be chosen It is greatly important to select the appropriate letters because

it plays a decisive role in the result of the data collection procedure

Phrase 3: Data were collected from reliable sources (books, banks and tradingcompanies) with the adequate and equal number of each kind of letters To be morespecific, data consists of 80 letters for two kinds of letters used in this thesis

4 Data analysis methods and procedures

The procedure of data analysis involves two stages:

Stage 1 (processing data): After all the data were collected, qualitative andquantitative methods were adopted in this stage

Qualitative method was used to analyze speech acts and politeness strategieswhich were found in the data In the part of speech acts, quantitative method was used

to find out the percentage of the most dominant type of speech acts by applying theformular:

A = the number of data in one type of speech acts

21A/B x 100% = C

B = total number of used speech acts

C = the percentage of one speech act

After that, descriptive statistics was employed The data were calculated andtransferred into numerical form and after that, presented in tables and pie charts Fromthese statistics, the researcher would draw comments and make comparison

Stage 2: Summaries and conclusions were drawn out by the researcher in PartIII-Conclusion

CHAPTER III FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, all the collected data will be analyzed and discussed in details

to reveal the answers to the two research questions.

1 An analysis of inquiry letters and collection letters in terms of Speech Acts

This part aims to answer the research question 1: “What are types of Speech acts that writers use in inquiry letters and payment letters?”

1.1 Realization of Speech Acts used in inquiry letters

According to Searle’s classification, the findings reveal that there are 4 types ofspeech acts used in 40 inquiry letters

1.1.1 Directives in inquiry letters

As the purpose of an inquiry letter is to ask suppliers for information, catalogue

or price list, speech acts of request are employed It can be found from the collecteddata that the sender uses direct requests in letters of inquiry For instance:

- “We, therefore, request you kindly to send us a price list together with business terms.”(Letter 1)

- “As such, we would like to request that you send us the missing information,

as specified in the application form, as soon as possible.” (Letter 13)

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- “We would like to inquire some details about your product.” (Letter 22)

These statements express the customer’s request politely, which can lead to thesupplier’s acceptance of giving information, sample or price list

Besides, the writer applies direct request in the structure of imperatives Forexample:

- “Please send us your updates catalogues, price list and terms of payment.”

(Letter 4)

- “Please let us have the details of your product together with the sample, terms

of payment and the price list.” (Letter 30)

- “Please send us a copy of your catalogue with the price list and inform whether you can allow us any special discount.” (Letter 34)

The structure of imperatives will have good effect on the reader’s emotionbecause of earnest expression Such sentences are polite enough to make the reader doaction in response to the writer’s requirement

In addition, the sender tends to choose indirect request as an effective way todeliver request Indirect request is expressed though interrogative sentence in theseexamples:

- “Would you please send me a copy of your handbag catalogue with details of your prices and payment terms?” (Letter 5)

- “Could you send us some information about the teaching staff and the possible schedule for this course?” (Letter 35)

- “With reference to your advertisement in yesterday's New York Times, could you please send me a copy of your latest catalogue?” (Letter 7)

Indirect request employed in the inquiry letter is more formal than direct one,which results in promoting the reader’s offer more effectively In some cases, a requestmay be an imposition by the writer on the reader so that the writer needs to ask forpermission in a cautious way

1.1.2 Representatives in inquiry letters

Representative speech act is commonly applied in order to introduce basicinformation about the customer or company as shown in the following examples:

- “I am a systems engineer at Bell Trading We are planning to launch a new cell phone model.” (Letter 15)

- “I am Mr Keith Liebermann, Marketing Representative of Vegetables Supreme.” (Letter 22)

- “The MM’eS Company is a new company that produces sound system and musical instruments.” (Letter 32)

- “Our company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the international Zetax Corporation, well-known in the security and theft prevention industry.” (Letter 6)

These introduction sentences above are always in the first paragraph in theletter of inquiry They give brief information about the writer’s position such as

systems engineer and Marketing Representative or description of firm/business that the company is specialized in such as sound system, musical instruments and security and theft prevention industry.

Moreover, representative speech act is illustrated with the statement of thepurpose of the letter The sender wants to find partner having related business so as tomeet the stated need For instance:

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- “We are a chain of retailers based in Birmingham and are looking for a manufacturer who can supply us with a wide range of sweaters for the men’s leisurewear market.” (Letter 39)

- “We are a large chain of retailers and are looking for a manufacturer who could supply us with a wide range of sweaters for the teenage market.” (Letter 18)

Other representatives in inquiry letters refer to how the writers knew about thefirm they are writing to For example:

- “We have known your company’s name from the trade magazine The Business World.” (Letter 3)

- “When we attended the International Electronics Trade Fair in London last month, we visited your stand and saw a very interesting demonstration of your automatic high-security garage doors.” (Letter 6)

- Your company has been highly recommended to us by the Alex Thallier Company in Paris, France.” (Letter 23)

The writers found out other firms through diversity sources such as magazineand trade fair or they were recommended by a reputable organization

1.1.3 Expressives in inquiry letters

The writers use inquiry letter to request for information or services with thehope that they will receive approval from the readers Therefore, they need to expresspositive attitude toward the readers

Expressive speech act in inquiry letters are in the form of pleasure, impressionand thanking The examples of expressives are presented below:

- “I am particularly interested in the electronic gate system which is listed as

on offer during this season.” (Letter 8)

- “I will appreciate it if you can send us a very detailed explanation of the product complete with all the relevant descriptions and images.” (Letter 9)

- “I should be grateful if you would send us your brochure and price list about your translation services.” (Letter 2)

- “The sales team is impressed by your products and interested in purchasing some of your products if they fit our needs.” (Letter 21)

- “Thank you very much!” (Letter 12)

By using emotional expressions such as I am particularly interested in…, I will appreciate it…, I should be grateful…, The sales team is impressed by… and Thank you…, the writers convey requests sincerely and show their interest and appreciation in

information or services that they want to have Therefore, they create a goodimpression on the suppliers and they can get their requests accepted

1.1.4 Commissives in inquiry letters

In letters of inquiry, the writer usually uses commissive speech act to promise

to make an order for the product if the supplier can meet the requirement of qualityand price For example:

- “If the prices offered are competitive and the quality is of the standard we required, we shall place large orders with you in future.” (Letter 3)

- “It would also be helpful if you could send us some samples and if they are of the standard we require, we will place a substantial order.” (Letter 16)

“If you can guarantee prompt delivery and can quote competitive prices, I may place a trial order.” (Letter 25)

1.2 Overview of the use of speech acts in inquiry letters

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The following tables and pie chart describe the frequency of speech acts used ininquiry letters in general.

Table 4: Data of forty INQUIRY LETTERS

Table 5: Percentages of some Speech acts in the INQUIRY LETTERS

As it can be seen from the table and pie chart, among four types of speech acts(directives, representatives, expressives and commissives) in forty inquiry letters,directives represent the highest percentage with 37.6% of the total speech acts and thelargest number used of 80 times It is not surprising that directives are more dominantthan other types because a letter of inquiry is usually written to request for specificinformation, price lists, catalogues or terms of payment The most common utterance

in this case is “We should be grateful if you would send us your brochure and price list about…” or “Would you please send us your latest catalogue, price list and terms of payment?” which sounds respectful and courteous for the suppliers.

Representative speech act is relatively frequent in inquiry letters It ranks thesecond place with 32.4% and the usage of 69 times This indicates that the adoption ofthis speech act is necessary for the writers to provide general information about theirbusiness Meanwhile, expressives employed to express interest in products or servicesand show gratefulness for the readers account for 22.5% The rest percentage, 7.5%

belongs to commissive speech act which is 5 times lower than directive one Thesentences used commissives are usually order promises which provide directmotivation as to why recipients should help the writers with their inquiry By dint ofthat, it is suggested that the frequent employment of these four speech acts isdependent on the communicative purposes of the inquiry letter.

1.3 Realization of Speech Acts used in collection letters

According to Searle’s classification, the findings reveal that there are 5 types ofspeech acts used in 40 collection letters

1.3.1 Representatives in collection letters

In a collection letter, it is essential for the payment collector to state thecustomer’s current situation in detail For instance:

- “It’s been three months that you have not paid the money and you total outstanding amount due for payment is $2250.” (Letter 1)

- “We have not yet received payment against invoice number: ABC1234 which

is now overdue for more than two months.” (Letter 8)

- This letter serves as a reminder that you have an outstanding payment of USD

2500 on the invoice # 548520 which was sent to you on the 14th of August, 2011.